Numerous fields employ computer-generated environments for a variety of purposes (e.g., as fantasy effects in games or for real-world simulations). The United States Army has identified a training need for a realistic computer-generated urban sprawl environment. Ideally, such an environment would: be capable of extensive detail (to include the interiors of buildings, vehicles and other objects); have infinite variations to avoid “learning” the simulation; employ pseudo-random generation of environments to avoid repeating known patterns; be able to exactly recreate a prior environment; operate so as to minimize the resource and opportunity costs for creating and maintaining the environment; and take advantage of external data files for the generation of components.
Current and traditional methods for computer-generated environments typically utilize a pre-established environment. Such pre-established environments (to include components) are created in their entirety prior to use. (This could be from an existing file or could be generated just prior to use.) Such pre-existing environments are inherently limited by: the opportunity and resource costs associated with the extensive data handling requirements; the ability to create and retain a certain amount of environment containing features, objects, and associated details; the ability to store and recall an original environment and a changed environment; and the ability to maintain the environment in real-time interactions. The practical limitations of these prior art methods can lead to recognizable and repeating patterns, which may adversely affect the objectives for using a realistic computer-generated environment. Similar limitations would apply to the level of detail possible in prior art methods. For example, during anti-terrorist training, the detection and deactivation of an explosive device wired into the electrical system of a specific vehicle might require that the interior wiring of that vehicle be presented in great detail to accomplish the purpose of the training. If you then have a large garage full of vehicles, it would be impractical, if not impossible, under prior art methods to create and maintain so many vehicles in such detail.
Because of the extensive amount of data being generated, maintained, stored, and manipulated, these prior art methods have high opportunity and resource costs which result in computer-generated environments which are restricted in one or more of the following ways: the size of the environment; the quantity, variety, and detail of available components; and allowable interactions between users and components. One object of this invention is to overcome these inherent prior art restrictions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,019 there is disclosed a “method for creating a large-scale synthetic environment simulation which can be used in real-time.” The disclosed method provides for a varying level of detail by “regions of interest”, for fully establishing only desired regions of the environment, and for updating individual components without recompiling the whole environment. This varying level of detail applies to a fixed range of detail which is available to the entire environment. Within this limited range of detail, priority is given to maximizing the detail in those regions of the greatest interest. This patent does not teach or disclose the use of pseudo-random selection (randomness within preset rules) of components and details to match the variety and randomness of real world conditions. This lack of pseudo-randomness results in simulated environments which might become predictable or are limited to only what is expected. The level of detail available for any given component must be essentially unlimited if the intent is to replicate a real world object. The method of this patent does not teach or disclose the use of continuously increasing levels of detail being given to components via pseudo-random selection and on an as-needed basis. The cited patent does provide for varying the level of detail on a priority basis; however, it does not teach or disclose the much more efficient method of completely disregarding unneeded regions and generating only those regions needed and only for so long as they are needed.
There are many current apparatuses and means for creating images for use within a simulated environment, for processing environment structure and components for display to a user, and for providing varying degrees of realistic human interaction with these virtual realities. The method disclosed in the present invention is focused upon a unique way to employ all of these current (and to be developed) apparatuses and means to provide a computer-generated environment which is essentially unrestricted as to the area available, the degree and realism of interactions with the environment, and the levels of detail, variety and occurrence of components.